Figure 2.1 This map depicting the route of the Harriman Expedition in 1899 is quite interesting to look at. Since they sailed from Washington, you notice that most of their recordings are in the southern parts such as the islands, Valdez, and Homer areas. This acknowledges that far most of Alaska was not explored at this time due to the little information given on the interior or northern parts as written “Great Marshes”. I also like this map because it reminds me how close Russia is to Alaska. The art on this map is also nice to look at.

Figure 2.4 This map is an eye opening map. Although I did not see a description on this map, you can see that native settlement has populated most of Alaska. As natives have placed their origins in Alaska, from the far north to the farthest south, the map indicates that most settlements run along the rivers. This is probably for various reasons such as being close to a major food source, water source, and even for travel/trade.

Figure 2.5 This map is by far my favorite map to study. First of all, most maps we regularly see do not show how big the state of Alaska truly is. Although we are separated from the rest of the 48 States, it should not go unrecognized. As the reading states, in size Alaska is 17% of what the United States. It is crazy to think you can drive through three different states in the same time it takes to get from Fairbanks to Anchorage. Our land mass is huge sitting at 591,000 square miles!

Figure 2.8 This map is not enjoyable to look at. I dislike how it distorts the polar regions making the map look very stretched out and disproportionate. This makes it harder to not only read a map but also have a clear perspective on how places are shaped and distance relevance.